The Bulletin is a publication of the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station, College of Life Sciences and Agriculture, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire

Crow, G. E.

Hellquist, C. B.

New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station

English

UNH Scholars' Repository

Aquatic vascular plants of New England, Station Bulletin, no.518

Aquatic vascular plants of New England, Station Bulletin, no.524

University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository NHAES Bulletin New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station 2-1-1981 Aquatic vascular plants of New England, Station Bulletin, no.517 Crow, G. E. Hellquist, C. B. New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/agbulletin Recommended Citation Crow, G. E.; Hellquist, C. B.; and New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station, "Aquatic vascular plants of New England, Station Bulletin, no.517" (1981). NHAES Bulletin. 478. https://scholars.unh.edu/agbulletin/478 This Text is brought to you for free and open access by the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in NHAES Bulletin by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact nicole.hentz@unh.edu. Soo-5nON BULLETIN 517 February, 1981Aquatic Vascular Plants ofNe^v England:Part 2. Typhaceae and SparganiaceaebyG. E. Crow and C. B. HellquistNEW HAMPSHIREAGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONUNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIREDURHAM, NEW HAMPSHIREON BULLETIN 517 February, 1981Aquatic Vascular Plants ofNew England:Part 2. Typhaceae and SparganiaceaebyG. E. Crow and C. B. HellquistNEW HAMPSHIREAGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONUNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIREDURHAM, NEW HAMPSHIREY •'_v--r-r•' Nst; Hrirr-poliire5%^^^ 5/:^ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSWe wish to thank Drs. Ernest O. Beal, Vernon L. Harms, Arthur C.Mathieson, and Eugene C. Ogden for their helpful comments on themanuscript. We are also grateful to the curators of the following her-baria for use of their collections: BOSC, BRU, CONN, CUW, GH,HNH, KIRI, MASS, MAINE, NCBS, NHA, NEBC, VT, YU. A specialthanks is extended to Pamela Bruns who prepared the illustrations.This Bulletin is dedicated to the late Dr. E. O. Beal who died onAugust 31, 1980.Programs of the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station are open to allpersons without regard to race, color, national origin or sex. The University of NewHampshire is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.3 ^t3DD DDblfl MLEBABSTRACTThis paper is the second in a series of reports on the aquatic andwetland flora of New England. It treats all species of the Typhaceaeand Sparganiaceae occurring in New England and includes keys,comments on taxonomy and nomenclature, habitat and distributionalinformation, water chemistry data, illustrations and dot maps. Thosespecies regarded as rare and endangered in one or more of the six NewEngland states are also noted.Onetaxon, Sparganium multipedunculatum, previously reported asoccurring in New England is excluded from the flora, based on areexamination of the specimens.KEY WORDS: Aquatic Plants, New England Flora, Taxonomy, Typhaceae, Spar-ganiaceae, Typha, Sparganium, Cat-tail, Bur-reed.Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION 1TYPHACEAE 2Typha (Cat-tail) 2Key to Species 2Typha latifolia 2Typha angustifolia 2Typha X glauca 3Literature Cited and Selected References 3SPARGANIACEAE 7Sparganium (Bur-reed) 7Key to Species 7Sparganium eurycarpum 8Sparganium minimum 8Sparganium fluctuans 8Sparganium adrocladum 8Sparganium americanum 15Sparganium angustifolium 15Sparganium chlorocarpum 19Literature Cited and Selected References 1911Aquatic Vascular Plants of New England:Part 2. Typhaceae and SparganiaceaebyG. E. Crow and C. B. HellquistINTRODUCTIONThis is the second in a series ofreports on the aquatic and wetlandflora of New England. The first part treated the Zosteraceae, Pota-mogetonaceae, Zannichelliaceae, and Najadaceae (N.H. Agric. Exp.Sta. Bull. 515, January 1980).A treatment ofthe aquatic and wetland plants ofthe New Englandregion has long been needed. The manual is being prepared to aidconservationists, fish and game personnel, consultants, botanists andstudents in the identification of aquatic plants. The coverage is strictlyNew England but is ofvalue throughout the northeast. Data have beengathered from herbaria in New England and from personal field work.Chemical data presented have been gathered from many watersthroughout New England. The alkalinity readings are total alkalinity,expressed as milligrams per liter (mg/1) CaCOg. Since pH and alkalin-ity vary greatly during the day, the values are only indicative of thewater qualtiy. Chloride values are given where data are available andof value.The rare and endangered plant lists referred to are those preparedfor each of the six New England states by the New England BotanicalClub in cooperation with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service,Office of Endangered Species, Newton Corner, MA (RI — Church andChamplin, 1978; MA — Coddington and Field, 1978; VT — Country-man, 1978; ME — Eastman, 1978; CT — Mehrhoff, 1978; NH — Storksand Crow, 1978).We invite comments and/or criticisms on this treatment. Informa-tion on any species omitted or any known localities not documented byus will be welcomed. If anyone is interested in specific localities of anyof the species indicated on the dot maps, please contact us.Dr. G. E. Crow, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Nesmith Hall, Univer-sity of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824.Dr. C. B. Hellquist. Department of Biology, Boston State College, 625 HuntingtonAvenue, Boston, MA 02115.TYPHACEAETypha (Cat-tail)Plants of shores, marshes, wet and intermittently wet places, bothfresh and saline waters; growing from creeping rhizomes; leaves long,erect and twisted, sheathing at the base; flowers unisexual, pistillateflowers in a dense cylindrical spike borne below the staminate spike;fruit a minute stipitate achene with a long, persistent style.Key to Species1. Staminate and pistillate portions of spike contiguous, occasionallyseparated by a distance less than 5 mm (fig. 1); mature pistillatespike 12-35 mm in diameter, dark brown.1. T. latifolia1. Staminate and pistillate portions of the spike separated by a dis-tance ofmore than 5 mm (fig. 2A); mature pistillate spike 6-20 mm indiameter, reddish or cinnamon-brown.2. Stem 0.75-1.5 m tall; leaf blades 3-8 mm wide, deep green; pistillatespike 0.3-1.5 dm long.2. T. angustifolia2. Stem 2.0-3.5 m tall; leaf blades 6.5-11.0 mm wide, blue-green,glaucous; pistillate spike 1.8-5.0 dm long.3. T. X glauca1. Typha latifolia L. Fig. 1, Map 1Extremely common throughout New England. Plants of dampshores, marshes and roadside ditches. Plants with a small separationof the staminate and pistillate spikes, have been described as Typhalatifolia forma ambigua (Sonder) Kronf. and may be confused with T.angustifolia or T. X glauca. Range extends from Newfoundland westto Alaska, south throughout the United States, and scattered widely inMexico.alkalinity: mean 39.2 mg/1; range 1.5-170.0 mg/1pH: mean 7.4; range 5.4-9.8 mg/12. Typha angustifolia L. Fig. 2, Map 2Common along the coast in salt marshes and inland in alkalinewaters of western New England; scattered in acid regions of interiorsouthern New England. Range extends from Nova Scotia west tosouthern Quebec, Ontario, southern Montana, Wyoming and south-eastern Oregon, south to northeastern Florida, Georgia, Missouri,southern Texas, and CaHfornia.alkalinity: mean 56.0 mg/1; range 7.5-137.5 mg/1pH: mean 7.2; range 6.1-8.23. Typha X glauca Godr. Fig. 2, Map 3Scattered locations in New England along the coast from KnoxCounty, Maine south and inland along the Champlain Valley; widelyscattered and infrequent elsewhere. This taxon is a hybrid between T.latifolia and T. angustifolia. Its range in New England closely paral-lels that of T. angustifolia although it may be found without eitherparent species. Typha X glauca, exhibiting natural hybrid vigor, ismuch larger than either parent species; the leaf width and the separa-tion between staminate and pistillate spikes is intermediate to that ofthe parents. Range extends from central Maine west to southern On-tario, Iowa, and Oregon, south to North Carolina, and Alabama.Reveal (1977) notes that hybrids under the name T. X glauca fromUtah and California are plants resulting from T. latifolia X T.domingensis.alkalinity: mean 56.3 mg/1; range 10.0-111.0 mg/1pH: mean 7.4; range 7.1-8.1Literature Cited andSelected ReferencesBayly, I. L. and T. A. O'Neill. 1971. A study of introgression in Typhaat Pt. Pelee Marsh, Ontario. Canad. Field Nat. 85: 309-314.Fassett, N. C. and B. Calhoun. 1952. Introgression between Typhalatifolia and T. angustifolia. Evolution 6: 367-379.Hotchkiss, N. and H. L. Dozier. 1949. Taxonomy and distribution ofNorth America cat-tails. Amer. Midi. Nat. 41: 237-254.Lee, D. W. 1975. Population variation and introgression in NorthAmerican Typha. Taxon 24: 633-641.Lee, D. W. and D. E. Fairbrothers. 1973. Enzyme differences betweenadjacent hybrid and parent populations of Typha. Bull. TorreyBot. Club 100:3-11.Reveal, J. L. 1977. Typhaceae. In: Cronquist, A., A. H. Holmgren, N. H.Holmgren, J. L. Reveal and P. K. Holmgren. Intermountain flora.Vascular plants of the intermountain west, U.S.A. Vol. 6. Colum-bia Univ. Press, New York. 584 pp.Smith, S. G. 1967. Experimental and natural hybrids in North Ameri-can Typha (Typhaceae). Amer. Midi. Nat. 78: 257-287.Yeo, R. R. 1964. Life history of common cattail. Weeds 12: 284-288.4staminate spike-pistillate spike gFigure 1 .Typha latifolia: A. habit, x 1/20. B. staminate andpistillate spike, x '/_>. C fruit, x 3.Figure 2.Typha angustifolia: A. staminate and pistillate spike,X Vi. B. fruit. X 4.Typha X glauca: C. staminate and pistillate spike, xVa. D. flower, x S'/-. E. fruit, x 3'/2.M 3e.0SPARGANIACEAESparganium (Bur-reed)Plants of fresh water and marshes; growing from fibrous roots orshort rhizomes; stems and leaves erect or floating; flowers unisexual,borne in globose heads, staminate heads borne above pistillate heads,pistillate heads appearing bur-like; fruit obovoid or fusiform, fre-quently with a slight median constriction, 1-2 seeded.Key to Species1. Stigmas 2 (fig. 3D); fruits 4-8 mm broad, truncate (flattened on endexcept for beak) (fig. 3C).1 . S. eurycarpum1. Stigmas 1; fruits less than 4 mm broad, tapering to a beak (figs. 5C,6D).2. Staminate head 1 (fig. 4A); fruiting heads 0.8-1.2 cm in diameter;beak of fruit 0.5-1.5 mm long.2. S. minimum2. Staminate heads 2-20; fruiting heads 1.2-3.5 cm in diameter;beak of fruit 1.5-6.0 mm long,3. Beak of mature fruit flattened and strongly curved (fig. 5C).3. S. fluctuans3. Beak of mature fruit round, not strongly curved.4. Pistillate heads borne directly in axils of leaves or bracts(figs. 6C, 7B).5. Fruiting heads 2.5-3.5 cm in diameter; stigmas 2.0-3.2mmlong; beak 4.5-7 mm long; body of fruit shiny (rarely dull).A. S. androcladum5. Fruiting heads 1.5-2.5 cm; stigmas 0.8-1.5 (—2) mm long;beak 1.5-5.0 mm long; body of fruit dull.5. S. americanum4. Pistillate heads (at least some) borne above the axils ofleaves or bracts (supra-axillary) (figs. 8B, 9B).6. Fruit beak 0.5-2.0 mm long; stigmas 0.6-1.5 mm long;fruits reddish at base; stems and leaves lax, mostly float-ing (fig. 8A), up to 12 dm long.6. S. angustifolium.6. Fruit beak 2.0-4.3 mm long; stigmas 2.0-4.3 mm long;fruits greenish at base; stems and leaves erect and emer-gent (occasionally floating), up to 8.5 dm long.1 . S. chlorocarpum81. Sparganium eurycarpum Englem. Fig. 3, Map 4Common along the coastal plain and in alkaline waters of westernNew England. Erect, in shallow waters and on damp shores, swalesand marshes. This is the tallest of the bur-reeds in New England,occasionally reaching a height of 1.5 m. Range extends from the Mag-dalen Islands, Quebec west to northern Alberta and southern BritishColumbia, south to Virginia, Missouri, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Ari-zona, and California.Rare and endangered plant list: New Hampshirealkalinity: mean 47.7 mg/1; range 17.0-108.5 mg/1pH: mean 7.4; range 6.7-8.22. Sparganium minimum (Hartm.) Fries Fig. 4, Map 5Scattered throughout northern New England, becoming infre-quent southward, rare in Massachusetts and northwestern Connecti-cut. Submerged, floating or occasionally slightly erect in shallowwater. Range extends from Newfoundland west to Alaska, south tonorthern New Jersey, northern Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin,Utah, northern Arizona, and California.Rare and endangered plant lists: Massachusetts, Connecticutalkalinity: mean 35.4 mg/1; range 3.5-69.5 mg/1pH: mean 7.3; range 6.5-8.53. Sparganium fluctuans (Engelm.) Morong Fig. 5, Map 6Scattered in waters of low alkalinity throughout northern NewEngland, rare in southern New England. Submerged plants with float-ing leaves, leaf width varying from 3-11 mm, but generally broaderthan 5 mm. Range extends from Newfoundland west to southernQuebec and northern Alberta, south to New England, northern Penn-sylvania, northern Michigan, and Minnesota.Rare and endangered plant list: Connecticutalkalinity: mean 13.5 mg/1; range 3.0-49.5 mg/1pH: mean 6.9; range 6.1-7.94. Sparganium androcladum (Engelm.) Morong Fig. 6, Map 7Rare in northern Maine, scattered in southern New England.Large erect plants up to 1.2 m growing along damp shores and inmarshes. Range extends from Quebec west to Minnesota, south tosouthern Virginia, eastern Tennessee, Illinois, and Missouri. Reportsfrom Oklahoma and Texas are doubtful.staminate headstigmas 2pistillate head-Figure 3.Sparganium eurycarpum: A. upper portion of plant, xV4. B. fruiting head, x ^h. C. fruit, x 2>/j. D. floweringhead, x ^h.10Figure 4.Spargonium minimum: A. habit ofsubmersed plant, x'/^. B. habit of emersed plant, x '/j. C\ fruit, x 3.D. fruiting head, x 1.1135-C^ 3a ^« SS 3ccSic;^o^^s^kt^12Figure 5.Sparganium fluctuans: A. habit, x 'A. B. upper portionof plant with fruiting heads, x '/i. C. fruit, x 2Vi.13Figure 6.Sparganium androcladum: A. habit, x Vk. B. upperportion of plant, x V2. C. fruiting head, x ¥1. D. fruit, x3'/j.14asea15Rare and endangered plant list: New Hampshirealkalinity: 15.0 mg/1pH: 6.85. Sparganium americanum Nutt. Fig. 7, Map 8Extremely common throughout New England. Erect (rarely float-ing) plant of shallow water and damp shores. Floating plants, whenencountered, usually found in close proximity to erect plants along theshore. Beal (1960) has reported that inflorescence branching andsupra-axillary pistillate heads are not infrequent in populations of theCoastal Plain of the Carolinas. We have not observed this in plants ofthis species in New England. Beal (1960) also notes that the charactersby which Clausen (1937) recognized his somewhat robust var. rigidumoccur scattered throughout the range of th.e species and the taxon is notworthy of recognition. Range extends from Newfoundland west toOntario, Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota, south to Florida,Alabama, Oklahoma, and Texas.alkalinity: mean 17.7 mg/1; range 0.5-123.5 mg/1pH: mean 6.9; range 5.3-9.86. Sparganium angustifolium Michx. Fig. 8, Map 9Abundant in northern New England, widely scattered in southernNew England. Plants floating, with leaves 1.5-5 mm wide, often grow-ing in deep water or occasionally slightly erect in shallow water. Thefew plants from New England previously identified as Sparganiummultipedunculatum (Morong) Rydb. are included here since thesespecimens differ from typical S. angustifolium only in a leaf width upto 6.0 mm wide. All specimens seen were clearly floating in habit, noterect, as is often characteristic for S. multipedunculatum. Sparganiummultipedunculatum . which is treated by some authors (Reveal, 1970)as a variety of S. emersum Rehman {-S. simplex Hud.) typically haslarger fruiting heads (2.0-3.0 cm in diameter) and longer fruit beaks(3.0-4.0 mm). Therefore, we no longer regard S. multipedunculatum asoccurring in the New England region. Range extends from Greenland,Newfoundland, and Labrador west to Alaska, south to northern NewJersey, northern Pennsylvania, Michigan, northern Illinois, Minne-sota, Colorado, Utah, northern New Mexico, northern Arizona, andCalifornia.alkalinity: mean 26.1 mg/1; range 2.5-103.5 mg/1pH: mean 7.2; range 6.5-9.516Figure 7.Sparganium americanum: A. habit, xhead, x '/2. C. fruit, x 2.1. B. fruiting17Figure 8.Sparganium angustifolium: A. habit, x '/i. B. upperportion ofplant with fruiting heads, x y->. C. fruit, x2'/2.18aQa. cCaoa^ 3CQS"197. Sparganium chlorocarpum Rydb. Fig. 9, Map 10E'ltremely common throughout New England. Erect plant of shal-low waters and marshes or floating in deeper waters. Floating plantsare often confused with S. angustifolium. The best characters toseparate these two species are the fruit color and beak length. Plantswith narrow floating leaves (5 mm or less) in southern New Englandare usually S. chlorocarpum. Much of our material would be referableto var. acaule (Beeby) Fern., with shortened stems and contiguousheads. However, we have noted that such plants frequently grow inmixed populations with plants referable to var. chlorocarpum. Similarobservations have been made by W. C. Muencher and R. T. Clausen(Clausen, 1934). We do not regard these as distinct varieties and there-fore follow Voss (1966; 1972) in treating the former as forma acaule(Beeby) E. Voss. Range extends from Newfoundland west to Ontarioand Minnesota, south to North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Indiana, andIowa.alkalinity: mean 17.2 mg/1; range 3.0-112.5 mg/1pH: mean 6.9; range 6.2-7.8Literature Cited andSelected ReferencesBeal, E. O. 1960. Sparganium (Sparganiaceae) in the southeasternUnited States. Brittonia 12: 176-181.Clausen, R. T. 1937. A new variety of Sparganium americanum.Rhodora 39: 188-190.Fernald, M. L. 1922. Notes on Sparganium. Rhodora 24:26-34.Harms, V. L. 1973. Taxonomic studies of North American Sparga-nium. I. S. hyperboreum and S. minimum. Canad. J. Bot. 51:1629-1641.Kaul, R. B. 1972. Adaptive leaf architecture in emergent and floatingSparganium. Amer. J. Bot. 59: 270-278.Reveal, J. L. 1970. Sparganium simplex Huds., a superfluous name.Taxon 19: 796-797.Voss, E. G. 1966. Nomenclatural notes on Monocots. Rhodora 68:435-463.Voss, E. G. 1972. Michigan flora. Part 1. Gymnosperms and Monocots.Cranbrook Institute of Science Bull. 55. Bloomfield Hills, Michi-gan. 488 pp.20xillarybractFigure 9.Sparfianium chlorocarpum: A. habit, x 'A. B. habit offorma ocaule showinfjcontiguous fruiting heads, x V2C. fruiting head with supra-axillary bract, x '/j.D. fruit, X 4.2133Z<sERRATA — Aquatic Plants of New England:Part 1. Zosteraceae, Potamogetonaceae,Zannichelliaceae, NajadaceaePage 11, lines 19-20 should read:"(figs. 34A, 35A, 36A)"Page 12, line 3 should read:"Cherry Pond, Jefferson, New Hampshire"

Aquatic vascular plants of New England, Station Bulletin, no.517

Aquatic vascular plants of New England, Station Bulletin, no.528

University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository NHAES Bulletin New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station 1-1-1982 Aquatic vascular plants of New England, Station Bulletin, no.520 Crow, G. E. Hellquist, C. B. New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/agbulletin Recommended Citation Crow, G. E.; Hellquist, C. B.; and New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station, "Aquatic vascular plants of New England, Station Bulletin, no.520" (1982). NHAES Bulletin. 481. https://scholars.unh.edu/agbulletin/481 This Text is brought to you for free and open access by the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in NHAES Bulletin by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact nicole.hentz@unh.edu. TION BULLETIN 520 January, 1982i\^,520 quatic Vascular Plants ofNew England:_ art 4. Juncaginaceae, Scheuchzeriaceae,Butomaceae, HydrocharitaceaebyG. E. Crow and C. B. Hellquist Q (Q 3dLibraryLibraryilniyersity of New HampsRicIXirham, N. R 03824NEW HAMPSHIREAGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONUNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIREDURHAM, NEW HAMPSHIRETION BULLETIN 520 January, 1982V\t?.52^ quatic Vascular Plants ofNew England:_ art 4. Juncaginaceae, Scheuchzeriaceae,Butomaceae, HydrocharitaceaebyG. E. Crow and C. B. Hellquist Q (Q SCltiBRARYLibraryJiniyersity of New HaoopsfiiiJXirham, N. a 03824NEW HAMPSHIREAGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONUNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIREDURHAM, NEW HAMPSHIRE- •' Psm-.'-hir'i I iKi.hY\o. 6BO ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSWe wish to thank Drs. Harold St. John and Ronald L. Stuckey fortheir helpful comments on the manuscript. We are also grateful to thecurators of the following herbaria for use of their collections: BOSC,BRU, CONN, CUW, GH, HNH, KIRI, MASS, MAINE, NCBS, NHA,NEBC, VT, YU. A special thanks is extended to Pamela Bruns whoprepared the illustrations.Programs of the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station are open to allpersons without regard to race, color, national origin or sex. The University of NewHampshire is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.IINH LIBRARY3 MtDD DDblfi ^7^flABSTRACTThis paper is the fourth in a series of reports on the aquatic andwetland flora of New England. It treats all species of the Juncagina-ceae, Scheuchzeriaceae, Butomaceae, and Hydrocharitaceae occur-ring in New England and includes keys, comments on taxonomy andnomenclature, habitat and distributional information, water chemis-try data, illustrations and dot maps. Those species regarded as rareand endangered in the New England Region or in one or more ofthe sixNew England states are also noted.One species included here, Triglochin gaspense Leith and Love,has been only recently described and is therefore absent from moststandard manuals.KEY WORDS: Aquatic plants. New England Flora, Taxonomy, Juncaginaceae,Scheuchzeriaceae, Butomaceae, Hydrocharitaceae, Triglochin, Scheuchzeria, Butomus,Vallisneria, Egeria, Elodea, Arrow-grass, Flowering Rush, Tapegrass, Eelgrass,Waterweed.TABLE OF CONTENTSINTRODUCTION : 1JUNCAGINACEAE 2Triglochin 2Key to Species 2Triglochin gaspense 2Triglochin palustre 2Triglochin maritimum 3Literature Cited and Selected References 3SCHEUCHZERIACEAE 3Scheuchzeria 3Scheuchzeria palustris 3BUTOMACEAE 3Butomus 9Butomus umbellatus 9Selected References 9HYDROCHARITACEAE 10Vallisneria 10Vallisneria americana 10Egeria 10Egeria densa 14Elodea 14Key to Species 14Elodea nuttallii 14Elodea canadensis 15Selected References 15Aquatic Vascular Plants of New England:Part 4. Juncaginaceae, Scheuchzeriaceae,Butomaceae, HydrocharitaceaebyG. E. Crowi and C. B. Hellquist2INTRODUCTIONThis is the fourth in a series of reports on the aquatic and wetlandflora of New England. These reports are being prepared to aid conser-vationists, fish and game personnel, consultants, botanists and stu-dents in the identification of aquatic plants. The coverage is strictlyNew England but is of value throughout the northeast. Data have beengathered from herbaria in New England and from personal field work.Chemical data presented represent samples from many watersthroughout New England. The alkalinity readings are total alkalinity,expressed as milligrams per liter (mg/1) CaCOg. The number of obser-vations are included in parentheses following alkalinity and pHvalues. Since pH and alkalinity vary greatly during the day, the valuesare only indicative of the water quality. Chloride values are givenwhere data are available and of value.The rare and endangered plants lists referred to are those preparedfor each of the six New England states by the New England BotanicalClub in cooperation with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service,Office of Endangered Species, Newton Corner, MA (RI — Church andChamplin, 1978; MA — Coddington and Field, 1978; VT — Country-man, 1978; ME — Eastman, 1978; CT — Mehrhoff, 1978; NH — Storksand Crow, 1978). Taxa indicated as rare, threatened or endangered forthe entire New England Region are also noted (Crow et al., 1981, Rho-dora 83: 259-299).We invite comments and/or criticisms on this treatment. Informa-tion on any species omitted or any known localities not documented byus will be welcomed. If anyone is interested in specific localities ofanyof the species indicated on the dot maps, please contact us.Dr. G. E. Crow, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Nesmith Hall, Univer-sity of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824.Dr. C. B. Hellquist, Department of Biology, Boston State College, 625 HuntingtonAvenue, Boston, MA 02115.JUNCAGINACEAETriglochin Arrow-grassPlants of freshwater and saltwater marshes, perennial, arisingfrom a short rootstock, some producing stolons; leaves slightly fleshyand rush-like; flowers in a spike-like raceme; fruit follicular, splittinginto 3-6 carpels from a persistent central axis.Key to Species1. Leaves typically equaling scape (fig. 1 A), very slender, curving out-wards from the sheath at 30-40 degree angle (fig. IB); spike 2-7 cmlong.1. T. gaspense1. Leaves typically shorter than scape (figs. 2A,E), slender to thickish,erect from sheath (fig. 2B); spike 6-45 cm long.2. Carpels and stigmas 3; mature fruit 1.0 mm thick, about 5-7 timesas long as broad; stolons present, filiform, bearing small bulbs.2. T. palustre2. Carpels and stigmas 6; mature fruit 2.0-3.0mm thick, about 2 timesas long as broad; stolons absent.3. T. maritimum\. Triglochin gaspense Lieth and D. Love Fig. 1, Map 1Rare in salt marshes ofWashington County, Maine. This dwarfedspecies has been recently described (Love and Lieth, 1961) from easternNorth American and should be looked for along the coast of northernNew England where it may be more abundant than reported. In con-trast to the clumped habit of T. maritimum, \)\3.r\tsoiT. gaspense ier\dto form lawn-like patches in the salt marsh. Range extends locallyfrom Newfoundland south to the Gaspe'' Peninsula, Quebec, PrinceEdward Island, New Brunswick, and Washington Co., Maine.2. Triglochin palustre L. Fig. 2, Map 2Widely scattered along coastal marshes of Maine, rare inlandalong the Aroostook River where it was last reported in 1940. Two his-torical records from Rhode Island are known, the most recent being1878. Range extends from Greenland and Labrador west to Alaska,south to Rhode Island, southern New York, northwestern Pennsylva-nia, northern Ohio, Illinois, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, andCalifornia.3. Triglochin maritimum L. Fig. 2, Map 3Common in coastal marshes and rare inland in freshwatermarshes ofNew England. This species was last found inland in 1935 inMaine. Range extends from Labrador west to Alaska, south to Dela-ware, western New York, northwestern Pennsylvania, northern Ohio,northern Illinois, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, and California.Literature Cited and Selected ReferencesFernald, M. L. 1903. Some variations in Triglochin maritima. Rhodora5: 174-175.Love, A. and H. Lieth. 1961. Triglochin gaspense, a new species ofarrow grass. Canad. J. Bot. 39: 1261-1272.Love, A. and D. Love. 1958. Biosystematics of Triglochin maritimumagg. Natur. Canad. 85: 156-165.SCHEUCHZERIACEAEScheuchzeriaPlants of bogs and peaty shores; growing from creeping jointedrootstocks; leaves linear, grass-like, broadly sheathing at base, tubu-lar at the apex; flowers borne on a loose receme; fruit an inflated follicle.1. Scheuchzeria palustris L. Fig. 3, Map 4Widely scattered in Sphagnum bogs in New England. This speciesis often overlooked when not in flower or fruit. The best diagnosticcharacter for sterile plants is the terminal pore at the tip fo the leaf.North American plants belong to variety americana Fern, and differfrom the Eurasian plants in having larger fruits with beaked follicles.Range extends from Newfoundland west to Manitoba and Washing-ton, south to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, northern Ohio, northern Illi-nois, northern Iowa, Nebraska, New Mexico, and California.Rare and endangered plant lists: Vermont, ConnecticutBUTOMACEAEPlants of shallow water and marshes. Perennial, arising from afleshy rootstock; leaves erect or floating; flowers pink, perfect, numer-ous, borne in an umbel; carpels 6, separate, connate at the very base;fruit a whorl of follicles with long beaks.DFigure 1Triglochin gaspense: A. habit, x Vz. B. leaf sheaths, x2. C. flowers, x 3. D. fruits, x 3.HsheathFigure 2Triglochin maritimum: A. habit, x 1/6. B. Leafsheath, x 2. C. flower, x 3. D. fruit, x 3.Triglochinpalustre: E. habit, x 1/6. F. sheaths, x 2. G.flowers, X 3. H. fruit, x 3.Figure 3Scheuchzeriapalustris: A. habit of flowering plant, x'/2. B. habit of fruiting plant, x '/j. C. habit of sterileplant, X '/«. D. flower, x 3'/<j. E. fruit, x 1. F. leaf tip withterminal pore, x S'/j.8Butomus (Flow^ering Rush)1. Butomus umbellatus L. Fig. 4, Map 5Common in marshes and shores along Lake Champlain and itstributaries; rare elsewhere. The oldest specinien on file was collected in1929 from Orwell, Vermont along Lake Champlain. This species isnaturalized from Eurasia and is spreading rapidly throughout themarshes in the Lake Champlain Valley. However, it does not appearto be crowding out other species. A submersed, non-flowering form,forma vallisneriifolius (Sagorski) Gluck is often in streams. Range ex-tends from the St. Lawrence River system in Quebec, Lake ChamplainValley of Vermont and New York, Connecticut River Valley of Con-necticut, westward along the Great Lakes to New York, Ohio, Michi-gan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and widely scattered locations in NorthDakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Manitoba.alkalinity: mean 95.8 mg/1; range 55.0-153.0 mg/1; (5)pH: mean 7.5; range 7.3-7.6; (5)Selected ReferencesAnderson, L. C, C. D.Zeis, and S. F. Alam. 1974. Phytogeography andpossible origins oi Butomus in North America. Bull. Torrey Bot.Club 101: 292-296.Core, E. L. 1941. Butomus umbellatus in America. Ohio J. Sci. 41: 79-85.Countryman, W. D. 1970. The history, spread and present distributionof some immigrant aquatic weeds in New England. HyacinthControl. J. 8: 50-52.Countryman, W.D. 1976. Lake Champlain's inland sea and the distri-bution of aquatic plants. Proc. Lake Champlain Basin Environ-mental Conference 3: 85-91.Godfread, C. and W. T. Barker. 1975. Butomaceae: A new familyrecord for North Dakota. Rhodora 77: 160-161.Muenscher, W. C. 1930. Butomus umbellatus in the Lake ChamplainBasin. Rhodora 32: 19-20.Staniforth, R. J. and K. A. Frege. 1980. Flowering rush (Butomus um-bellatus) in the Canadian prairies. Canad. Field-Naturalist 94:333-336.Stuckey, R. L. 1968. Distributional history of Butomus umbellatus(flowering rush) in the western Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair re-gion. Mich. Bot. 7: 134-142.10HYDROCHARITACEAE1. Leaves basal, long, linear and ribbon-like (fig. 5A,E) with a broadlacunae band (fig. 5G).Vallisneria1. Leaves cauline, short, opposite or whorled, without a lacunae band.2. Upper leaves in whorls of 4 (-6), occasionally more; leaves L2-4.0cm long.Egeria2. Upper leaves in whorls of 3 (-2); leaves 0.6-L7 cm long.ElodeaVallisneria (Tapegrass, Eelgrass)Submersed perennial plants of freshwater; leaves basal, long andribbon-like; monoecious; pistillate flowers solitary, sessile, enclosed ina tubular spathe, reaching surface by peduncle elongation; staminateflowers numerous, enclosed in spathes borne on short stalks, releasedand floating to the surface; fruit elongate, cylindrical, peduncle recoil-ing after fertilization, submersing fruit.1. Vallisneria americana Michx. Fig. 5, Map 6Common in acid and alkaline waters of New England. Sterileplants of Vallisneria and forms oi Sagittaria with ribbon-like leavesare easily confused. Thieret (1977) notes that Vallisneria does not pro-duce milky juice (characteristic in Sagittaria) and rhizomes of Vallis-neria consist of only a single internode between rosettes and they lackscales-leaves. Range extends from southern New Brunswick west toNorth Dakota and Nebraska, south to Florida, Texas, New Mexico,and Arizona; introduced in Washington.alkalinity: mean 33.5 mg/1; range 3.0-115.5 mg/1; (40)pH: mean 7.4; range 5.8-10.2; (38)Egeria (Waterweed)Submersed or floating perennial plant offreshwater; leaves sessilein whorls or 4 (-6) along the terete stem; staminate flowers in spathes,borne in upper leaf axils, raised to the surface of the water on a thread-like hypanthium; pistillate plants unknown in New England.11KKV^KFigure 4Butomus umbellatus: A. habit of submersed plant, xVs. B. habit ofemersed plant, x Vs. C. plant base, x Va. D.flo>ver, x 1. E. fruit, x 1.12Figure 5Vallisneria americana: A. habit of staminate plant, x'/». B. habit of pistillate plant, x '/t. C. staminatespathe, X 1. D. staminate flower, x 6. E. pistillateflower, X l.F. fruit, X '/i.G. portion of leafshowing la-cunae bands, x 1.13141. Egeria densa Planch. Fig. 6, Map 7Rare plant of ponds in New England. This common aquariumplant has been introduced into North America from South America.Cold weather does not seem to adversely affect it once introduced into apond. Populations are occasionally established at widely scatteredareas, reproducing vegetatively. Occurring sporadically from Ver-mont and Massachusetts west to Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklaho-ma, south to Florida and Texas; Arizona, California, and Oregon.Elodea (Waterweed)Submersed perennial plant of streams, ponds and lakes; leaves inwhorls of 3 (or 2), along the stem; dioecious or monoecious; flowers with3 sepals and 3 petals; staminate flowers with the filaments united intoa short column; pistillate flowers raised to the surface by an elongatedhypanthium or sessile, but on maturity breaking loose, floating to thesurface where buds open and the sepals diverge; fruit leathery, ovoidcapsule, few seeded.Key to Species1. Leaves generally 0.3-1.5 mm wide, pointed at tip (fig. 7B), not dense-ly overlapping toward stem apex (fig. 7A); staminate flowers en-closed in sessile spathes, released, floating to the surface at anthesis.1. E. nuttallii1. Leaves generally 1.0-5.0 mm wide, blunt at tip (fig. 71), not denselyoverlapping at tip (fig. 7F); staminate flowers enclosed in stalkedspathes, reaching the surface at anthesis by elongation of hypan-thium.2. E. canadensis1. Elodea nuttallii (Planch.) St. John Fig. 7, Map 8Common in acidic to moderately alkaline water of streams, lakes,and ponds in New England. Range extends from northern Maine andsouthern Quebec west to Idaho, south to North Carolina, Mississippi,Oklahoma, and New Mexico.alkalinity: mean 23.5 mg/1; range 5.0-108.5 mg/1; (38)pH: mean 6.9; range 5.6-8.9; (36)152. Elodea canadensis Michx. Fig. 7, Map 9Generally common in alkaline lakes, ponds and streams of NewEngland. Staminate plants are rarely encountered and have leaveswhich tend to be longer and more linear or lance-oblong than the pistil-late plants. Range extends from Quebec west to Saskatchewan andWashington, south to North Carolina, Alabama, Iowa, Texas, NewMexico, Arizona, and California.Rare and endangered plant list: New Hampshirealkalinity: mean 67.7 mg/1; range 10.0-153.0 mg/1; (64)pH: mean 7.6; range 6.5-10.2; (60)Literature Cited andSelected ReferencesCountryman, W. D. 1970. The history, spread and present distributionof some immigrant aquatic weeds in New England. HyacinthControl J. 8: 50-52.Fernald, M. L. 1918. the diagnostic character of Vallisneria americana.Rhodora20: 108-110.Hellquist, C. B. 1972. Range extensions of vascular aquatic plants inNew England. Rhodora 74: 131-141.Kausik, S. B. 1939. Pollination and its influence on the behavior of thepistillate flower in Vallisneria spiralis. Amer. J. Bot. 26: 207-211.Knowlton, C. H. 1940. Two introduced plants. Rhodora 42: 524-525.Lawrence, D. K. 1976. Morphological variation in Elodea in westernMassachusetts: field and laboratory studies. Rhodora 78: 739-749.Marie-Victorin, F. 1931. L'Anacharis canadensis. Histoire et solutiond'un imbroglio taxonomique. Contr. Lab. Bot. Univ. Montreal 18:1-43.Marie-Victorin, F. 1943. Les Vallisneries americaines. Contr. Inst. Bot.Univ. Montreal 46: 1-38.St. John, H. 1920. The genus Elodea in New England. Rhodora 22: 17-29.St. John, H. 1965. Monograph of the genus Elodea: part 4. Summary.Rhodora 67: 1-35; 155-180.Thieret, J. W. 1971. Observations on some aquatic plants in northwest-ern Minnesota. Mich. Bot. 10: 117-124.Wylie, R. B. 1913. A long-stalked Elodea flower. Bull. Lab. Nat. Hist.State Univ. Iowa 6: 43-52.Wylie, R. B. 1917. The pollination of Vallisneria spiralis. Bot. Gaz.(Crawfordsville) 63: 135-145.16Figure 6Egeria densa: A. habit, x '/j. B. portion of plant withstaminate flowers, x 1. C. leaf, x 1.17Figure 7Elodea nuttallii: A. habit, x '/2. B. leaf, x 2 '/a. C. pistil-late flo^ver, x 5. D. staminate flower, x 5. E. stami-nate bud with spathe, x 5.Elodea canadensis: F. habit, x '/2. G. staminate flowerwith spathe, x 5. H. pistillate flower, x 5. 1, leaf, x 2Vi.181920Station Bulletins of Botanical InterestGrasses of New Hampshire. I. Tribes Poeae (Festuceae) and Triticeae(Hordeae). A. R. Hodgdon, G. E. Crow, and F. L. Steele. Bull. No.512. 1979.The Flora of Plum Island, Essex County, Massachusetts. M. J.McDonnell. Bull. No. 513. 1979.Aquatic Vascular Plants of New England: Part 1. Zosteraceae, Pota-mogetonaceae, Zannichelliaceae, Najadaceae. C. B. HellquistandG. E. Crow. Bull. No. 515. 1980.Aquatic Vascular Plants of New England: Part 2. Typhaceae andSparganiaceae. G. E. Crow and C. B. Hellquist. Bull. No. 517. 1981.Aquatic Vascular Plants of New England: Part 3. Alismataceae. C. B.Hellquist and G. E. Crow. Bull. No. 518. 1981.SullivanBenningtonFairfieldGrand Isle-^^Franklin .^^^^^^^^ \CoosjU\ ,— -J <,csse.Lamoille —V4 '-, ""-;, / >ChittendenCaledoniaWashington) Franklin /Berkshire^—L- i"\ > '-'"'jHa^sf,rreJ!^°'""^' /BarnstableNantucketA'. . .,^Bristol, MAWindham\^Bristol, Rl^Middlesex I 1lyvewporfProvidenceWashington

Aquatic vascular plants of New England, Station Bulletin, no.517

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